World in Motion

"World in Motion"
Single by New Order
B-side "The B-side" (1990)
"Such a Good Thing" (2002)
Released 21 May 1990
Format CD, cassette, 12", 7"
Recorded The Mill, Buckinghamshire, March 1990
Genre Synthpop, dance music[1]
Length 4:30
Label Factory - FAC 293
Songwriter(s) Keith Allen, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Gillian Gilbert[2]
Producer(s) New Order, Stephen Hague
New Order singles chronology
"Run 2"
(1989)		 "World in Motion"
(1990)		 "Regret"
(1993)

"Run 2"
(1989)		 "World in Motion"
(1990)		 "Regret"
(1993)

"World in Motion" is a song by British musical group New Order (credited as England New Order).

The Football Association Press Officer at the time, David Bloomfield, who had been a fan of Joy Division, contacted New Order's manager Tony Wilson with the suggestion that the band record a track for the forthcoming World Cup in Italy. Without any hesitation Wilson agreed.

Bloomfield had seen and heard England's previous World Cup tunes and thought them uniformly dull, with the possible exception of the 1970 ditty "Back Home."

Bloomfield had been inspired by a track by Colourbox called "The Official Colourbox World Cup theme and he had noticed that the respected BBC Radio DJ John Peel occasionally played tracks by American football teams deeming them good enough to play on his show without a hint of irony.

Watching TV one night Bloomfield found himself watching "Best and Marsh" a concoction of football chat and action clips. When the credits ran at the end of the programme he noticed that the theme music was provided by New Order. In an eureka like moment he knew in an instant that he needed to contact Wilson and get the ball rolling.

There was a bit of a stand-off between the agent acting on behalf of the England squad and Wilson with Bloomfield acting to get the parties talking once more.

The players were by no means all willing to get involved. They were of the view that World Cup records were all dire and many didn't want to be associated with a band that few of them were familiar with. Gary Lineker was an absentee, not wishing to add his support to the official track when he had a World Cup single of his own to contemplate. Less than ten players turned up for the recording session which took place before the squad met up on a Sunday afternoon prior to an international match at Wembley.

However there was a good mood in the studio as the players added their vocals to the backing track that New Order had put together. The John Barnes rap segment being improvised on the spot with Liverpool's Craig Johnstone, who was not involved in the England set-up in any way, penning the rap on a scrap of paper.

The FA placed no restrictions or indeed gave any guidance to New Order although Bloomfield had warned that he didn't want anything associated with hooliganism.

It has been New Order's only number one song in the UK Singles Chart.[3] The song was produced for the England football team's 1990 FIFA World Cup campaign, and features a guest rap by England footballer John Barnes and additional vocals by several members of the 1990 English team and comedian Keith Allen, who had co written the lyric.

One band member reportedly gleefully claimed to the NME that they hoped it "would be the last straw for Joy Division fans," noting how its upbeat sound had inverted their former band's famously gloomy image.[4] The song was originally announced as being called "E for England", but the Football Association vetoed the title, realising that it sounded suspiciously like a reference to the drug ecstasy.

Allen claimed that his original draft lyrics ran "E is for England, England starts with E / We'll all be smiling when we're in Italy."[5] After being internationally released, it was shown before the movie Die Hard 2.

Song

Recording

The backing track for "World in Motion" bore some similarities to the instrumental theme tune for the DEF II current-affairs programme, Reportage,[6] which had been written for the show by Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert of New Order. "World in Motion" was produced by Stephen Hague, who had also produced one of the group's earlier hits, "True Faith". The single was released in May 1990 with the catalogue number FAC 293. It was New Order's last release on Factory Records.

The "They think it's all over" quotation, uttered by football commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme at the end of the 1966 World Cup Final, between England and West Germany, is utilised at the beginning and end of the track (though not the original; Wolstenholme re recorded the phrase specially for the producers), and somewhat less known samples, such as "A beauty scored by Bobby Charlton" and "We Want Goals", are taken from Goal!, the official documentary film on the 1966 tournament; the voice is that of actor Nigel Patrick.

A rap is performed by England player John Barnes towards the end of the track. Barnes was selected to perform the rap, after a contest with other players including Peter Beardsley, Paul Gascoigne, and Chris Waddle.[7] The sleeve credits Barnes, Beardsley, Gascoigne, Waddle, Steve McMahon and Des Walker as providing vocals, though the entire squad is seen miming to the refrain in the video. The squad with Allen shout "Express yourself" in the verses and sing the refrain at the end; in the "Carabinieri mix" they are also heard providing backing vocals in the chorus.

"The B-Side"

The single's B-side, an early version of the A-side, was titled "The B-Side", extending the football theme of the release. It was produced by former Swans member Roli Mosimann. Besides a different arrangement and some different lyrics, this version lacks the commentary samples and squad vocals, with Keith Allen's "naff football chants and JB impersonation" (as credited on the sleeve) in their place.

Remixes

Like "True Faith", "Fine Time" and "Round & Round" before it, the single was issued on two separate 12" singles, the first featuring the original mix of the song, the second containing reinterpretations by outside remixers. This would be the last New Order single released in this way. Remixers Andrew Weatherall and Terry Farley were supplied with an alternative chorus vocal, with the result that the chorus hook on their mixes runs "We've got the world in motion" rather than the original "Love's got the world in motion".

In 1996, LFO's Mark Bell remixed version of the song appeared on The Beautiful Game, which was released to tie in with Euro 96.

In 2010, one reworked version of the song was used in an advert for the Mars Bar.[8] The A-side features heavily in the film Butterfly Kiss; both the song itself is heard as well as the two main actresses singing versions of it.

Re-release

The single was re released for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, this time with the track "Such a Good Thing" replacing "The B-Side". It failed to enter the UK Top 40. This version was planned to have David Beckham performing the rap, but the F.A. vetoed the idea.[9] It was due to have been re released again in remixed form for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but despite a release date in the United Kingdom of 29 May 2006, an last minute decision was taken to shelve this release, and the remix has never surfaced.

Legacy

In 1998, New Order performed the song live for the first time at Reading with Allen. In the interim time Allen had written another England football song, the unofficial Vindaloo. Allen performed it with the band again in 2005 at Glastonbury.

Writing on the song in retrospect, Pitchfork writer Tom Ewing commented that "I sometimes get the feeling New Order fans – Americans in particular – see “World In Motion” as a novelty or an aberration, when really it’s a validation: this is a band at their peak."[10]

Track listing

All tracks written by Keith Allen, Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard Sumner; except where indicated.

12" #1: FAC 293 / 7": FAC-7 293 / Cassette: FAC 293C (UK)
No.TitleLength
1."World in Motion..."4:30
2."World in Motion..." (The B-Side)4:48
12" #2: FAC 293R (UK) / 12": Qwest 9 21582-0 (US) / Cassette: 9 21582-4 (US)
No.TitleLength
1."World in Motion..." (Subbuteo Mix) (Remixed by Graeme Park and Mike Pickering)5:08
2."World in Motion..." (Subbuteo Dub) (Remixed by Graeme Park and Mike Pickering)4:13
3."World in Motion..." (Carabinieri Mix) (Remixed by Andrew Weatherall and Terry Farley)5:52
4."World in Motion..." (No Alla Violenza Mix) (Remixed by Andrew Weatherall and Terry Farley)4:12
CD: FACD 293 (UK)
No.TitleLength
1."World in Motion..."4:30
2."World in Motion..." (The B-Side)4:14
3."World in Motion..." (No Alla Violenza Mix) (Remixed by Andrew Weatherall and Terry Farley)5:19
4."World in Motion..." (Subbuteo Mix) (Remixed by Graeme Park and Mike Pickering)5:08
CD: NUOCD12 (UK) - 2002 release
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."World in Motion..." 4:30
2."Such a Good Thing" (Produced by New Order and Steve Osborne, BBC Radio Five Live World Cup Theme)New Order4:10
3."World in Motion..." (No Alla Violenza Mix) (Remixed by Andrew Weatherall and Terry Farley) 4:12

Chart positions

Chart (1990) Peak
position
Australia ARIA Singles Chart[11] 21
German Media Control Singles Chart[12] 21
Irish Singles Chart[13] 7
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart 8
UK Singles Chart[14] 1
UK Indie Chart 1
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 10
US Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales 5
US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 5
Chart (2002, NUOCD12 release) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart[14] 43
Chart (2010) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart 22
Preceded by
"Killer" by Adamski featuring Seal		 UK number one single
3–16 June 1990 		Succeeded by
"Sacrifice/Healing Hands" by Elton John

References and footnotes

  1. ↑ Osborne, Ben (19 June 1998). "A decade of dance 1990.". The Guardian. p. 17.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 515. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  4. ↑ Astley, Conrad. "Main event: Rising from the ashes". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  5. ↑ "'World In Motion' 25 Years On". NME. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  6. ↑ Jones, Ian (October 2001). "Everyone Must Be Young and Beautiful: DEF II Revisited, Part One: "I Want To Subvert Mainstream TV"". Off the Telly. Archived from the original on 2011-06-08. Retrieved 2010-02-05. The current affairs show [..Reportage's..] title music, meanwhile, was by Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert of New Order and was later reused, not without some controversy, as the basis for the hit single World In Motion.
  7. ↑ Hart, Simon (30 May 2010). "Perfect backing track as Barnes rap hits target". The Independent. London.
  8. ↑ Mark Sweney. "John Barnes to reprise World in Motion rap for Mars ad". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
  9. ↑ Interview with Peter Hook on Soccer AM - 10 October 2009
  10. ↑ Ewing, Tom. "World in Motion". Freakytrigger. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  11. ↑ "australian-charts.com > England New Order - World In Motion...". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2015-09-10.
  12. ↑ "Charts Surfer - UK, German and French charts". charts-surfer.de. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
  13. ↑ "The Irish Charts". IRMA. Archived from the original on 1 February 2010. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
  14. 1 2 "Chart Stats - New Order". chartstats.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
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